1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a straw with a mouthpiece and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a straw with a mouthpiece which ensures an easy and safety drinking for a little child and the manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a straw which is an elongate tube having an outer diameter constant from one end to the other is widely used.
In cases where babies and little children (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9clittle childrenxe2x80x9d) drink beverages with the aforementioned conventional straw, since the tip portion of the straw is small and constant in diameter, there are such problems that the straw easily slips out of their mouths after holding the straw in their mouths, and therefore little children spill the beverage from their mouths when the straw slips out of their mouths in the middle of drinking the beverage.
Moreover, since the end of the conventional straw is exposed as it is, little children unfamiliar with the handling of a straw may accidentally poke their throats with the end of the straw. Especially, there is a risk of being injured when little children fall down in the middle of walking with the straw in their mouth.
In order to reduce the aforementioned risks, Japanese Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. 59-28376 proposes a straw with a mouthpiece forcibly inserted into an end of a straw main body. As shown in FIG. 15A, the straw 101 is comprised of a straw main body 102 and a mouthpiece 104. The straw main body 102 is provided with a plurality of stepped circular engaging protrusions 103 formed on the inner peripheral surface of one end of the straw main body 102. The mouthpiece 104 is provided with a plurality of stepped circular engaging protrusions 105 to be engaged with the aforementioned engaging protrusions 103 of the straw main body 102. The engaging protrusions 105 of the mouthpiece 104 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the inserting portion 104a of the mouthpiece 104 to be inserted into one end of the straw main body 102. As shown in FIG. 15B, the mouthpiece 104 is forcibly fitted into the straw main body 102, whereby the mouthpiece 104 is connected with the straw main body 102 with the engaging protrusions 105 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the inserting portion 104a of the mouthpiece 104 engaged with the engaging protrusions 103 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the straw main body 102.
However, according to the aforementioned straw 101, there is a possibility that the mouthpiece 104 is unintentionally detached from the straw main body 102 when the straw is in use. Since the mouthpiece 104 is forcibly fitted into the straw main body 102 to be connected thereto, if unexpected tensile stress or the like is imparted by being bitten by little children, unexpected pulling force may be imparted to the mouthpiece 104 or the cross-sectional shape of the straw main body 102 may be deformed. This may cause a detachment of the mouthpiece 104 from the straw main body 102. As a result, there is a possibility that little children may accidentally swallow the detached mouthpiece 104 because of the small size.
Moreover, since both the straw main body 102 and the mouthpiece 104 are manufactured separately and then combined with each other, the manufacture process of the straw main body 102, the manufacture process of the mouthpiece 104 and the combination process thereof are required. Thus, manufacturing the aforementioned straw with a mouthpiece requires several processes, which results in inferior productivity.
An object of the present invention is to provide a straw with a mouthpiece which enables little children to drink a beverage easily and safely.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a straw with a mouthpiece in which the mouthpiece will not be detached from a straw main body unintentionally.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a straw with a mouthpiece which can prevent an accidental swallow of the mouthpiece even if the mouthpiece is detached from the straw main body.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a straw with a mouthpiece with excellent productivity.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a straw with a mouthpiece includes a straw main body having openings at both ends thereof and a mouthpiece integrally connected with a tip portion of the straw main body. The tip portion of the straw main body is provided with at least one engaging aperture penetrating a peripheral wall constituting the straw main body, and the mouthpiece is provided with at least one engaging protrusion inwardly protruded from an inner peripheral surface thereof. The engaging protrusion is engaged with the engaging aperture, whereby the mouthpiece is integrally connected with the straw main body so as not to be detached therefrom.
With this straw, since the mouthpiece is integrally connected with the tip portion of the straw main body, the straw will not be unintentionally detached from the user""s mouth even in cases where little children hold the straw in their mouth, resulting in an easy-to-use straw. Furthermore, the engaging protrusion of the mouthpiece is engaged with the engaging aperture penetrated in the peripheral wall constituting the straw main body, the mouthpiece will not be unintentionally detached from the straw main body. Thus, there is no possibility that little children accidentally swallow the detached mouthpiece when in use, resulting in a safety straw.
It is preferable that the mouthpiece has a passage having an internal diameter smaller than an internal diameter of the straw main body. In this case, it is possible to prevent little children from sucking up an excessive beverage in a single suck to be choked with the beverage. Thus, an easy-to-drink straw can be provided.
It is also preferable that the mouthpiece is integrally formed on the tip portion of the straw main body by an insert molding method. In this case, the connecting strength between the mouthpiece and the straw main body is excellent, which can assuredly prevent the detachment of the mouthpiece from the straw main body.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a straw with a mouthpiece includes a straw main body having openings at both ends thereof, a mouthpiece integrally connected with a tip portion of the straw main body, and a cylindrical reinforcing member downwardly extending from a lower end of the mouthpiece so as to cover and reinforce a predetermined length of the tip portion of the straw main body. The cylindrical reinforcing member is integrally connected with the mouthpiece.
With this straw, since a predetermined length of the tip portion of the straw main body is reinforced by the cylindrical reinforcing member, the predetermined length of the tip portion is prevented from being deformed due to bites, which in turn can prevent a detachment of the mouthpiece from the straw main body due to the cross-sectional deformation of the straw main body at the lower end side of the mouthpiece. Furthermore, since the mouthpiece is integrally connected with the cylindrical reinforcing member, even if the mouthpiece is detached from the straw main body, the mouthpiece will be detached from the straw main body together with the cylindrical reinforcing member. However, since the cylindrical reinforcing member is a relatively long member having a predetermined length, an unintentional swallow of the mouthpiece by little children can be prevented.
It is preferable that the cylindrical reinforcing member is fixed to an outer peripheral surface of the tip portion of the straw main body so as to cover the outer peripheral surface from outside thereof and that the mouthpiece is fixed to the tip portion of the straw main body such that the mouthpiece covers an outer peripheral surface of the tip portion of the cylindrical reinforcing member and the tip portion of the straw main body. With this structure, the materials, the color, etc., can be changed between the mouthpiece and the cylindrical reinforcing member. Thus, it is possible to provide a straw with specific design by changing the color between the mouthpiece and the cylindrical reinforcing member.
It is preferable that the tip portion of the straw main body and a tip portion of the cylindrical reinforcing member are provided with at least one engaging aperture, respectively, each of the at least one engaging aperture penetrating a peripheral wall constituting the straw main body and a peripheral wall constituting the cylindrical reinforcing member, respectively, wherein the mouthpiece is provided with at least one engaging protrusion inwardly protruded from an inner peripheral surface thereof, and wherein the at least one engaging protrusion is engaged with each of the at least one engaging aperture, whereby the straw main body, the mouthpiece and the cylindrical reinforcing member are integrally connected with each other so as not to be detached from each other. With this structure, the straw main body, the mouthpiece and the cylindrical reinforcing member are integrally connected with each other easily and assuredly, which can assuredly prevent the detachment thereof.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a straw with a mouthpiece, including the steps of: preparing a straw main body provided with at least one engaging aperture formed on a peripheral wall of a tip portion of the straw main body; inserting a molding pin into the straw main body so that a tip portion of the molding pin outwardly protrudes from the tip portion of the straw main body; integrally forming the mouthpiece so as to surround the tip portion of the straw main body and the tip portion of the molding pin by an insert molding method; and removing the molding pin.
With this method, since the engaging aperture is provided in the peripheral wall of the tip portion of the straw main body, the mouthpiece can be integrally formed on the tip portion of the straw main body with the resin engaging protrusion engaged with the engaging aperture. Furthermore, since the method includes the step of integrally forming the mouthpiece so as to surround the tip portion of the straw main body and the tip portion of the molding pin by an insert molding method and the step of removing the molding pin from the mouthpiece and the straw main body, a hollow space penetrating the mouthpiece in the axial direction of the straw can be formed, and the hollow space comes in fluid communication with the inner space of the straw main body to form a passage for sucking up a beverage. Moreover, according to the aforementioned method, the step for manufacturing the mouthpiece and the step for connecting the mouthpiece with the straw main body can be performed simultaneously at the time of the insert molding of the mouthpiece. This decreases the steps of manufacturing a straw with a mouthpiece and enhances the productivity.
It is preferable that the molding pin has the tip portion having an external diameter smaller than an external diameter of the remaining portion thereof. In this case, it is possible to provide a straw with a mouthpiece which prevents little children from sucking up an excessive beverage in a single suck to be choked with the beverage. Thus, an easy-to-drink straw can be provided.
According to still yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a straw with a mouthpiece, including the steps of:
inserting a molding pin into a straw main body so that a tip portion of the molding pin outwardly protrudes from a tip portion of the straw main body;
integrally forming a cylindrical reinforcing member for reinforcing a predetermined length of the tip portion of the straw main body on an outer peripheral surface of the tip portion of the straw main body in a closely fitted manner;
forming one or a plurality of engaging apertures in a peripheral wall of the cylindrical reinforcing member and that of the straw main body;
integrally forming the mouthpiece having an enlarged head portion so as to surround an external peripheral surface of the tip portion of the cylindrical reinforcing member and an external peripheral surface of an upwardly protruded portion of the forming pin by an insert molding method; and
removing the molding pin.
With this method, since the cylindrical reinforcing member for reinforcing the predetermined length of the tip portion of the straw main body is integrally formed on the outer peripheral portion of the straw main body in a closely fitted manner, the manufacture of the cylindrical reinforcing member and the attachment of the cylindrical reinforcing member to the straw main body can be preformed simultaneously. This enhances the productivity of a straw with a mouthpiece. Furthermore, since one or a plurality of engaging apertures are formed in a peripheral wall of the cylindrical reinforcing member and that of the straw main body, and the mouthpiece having an enlarged head portion is integrally formed so as to surround an external peripheral surface of the tip portion of the cylindrical reinforcing member and an external peripheral surface of an upwardly protruded portion of the forming pin by an insert molding method, the manufacture of the cylindrical reinforcing member and the attachment of the cylindrical reinforcing member to the straw main body can be preformed simultaneously. This enhances the productivity of a straw with a mouthpiece. In addition, since resin flows not only onto the peripheral wall of the cylindrical reinforcing member but also the peripheral wall of the straw main body, an integration of the members can be performed assuredly and easily. Moreover, when the forming pin is removed after the integration molding, a hollow space penetrating the mouthpiece in the axial direction is formed. Since this hollow space communicates with the hollow space of the straw main body, a sucking aperture having a predetermined diameter can be formed in the mouthpiece without performing special aperture forming steps.
Other objects and the features will be apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.